Henry Lawson, ‘The Drover’s Wife’

One of the features of a good short story is that it shows a consistency of tone, mood and atmosphere, but yet maintains enough variety to keep the reader’s interest. In a short story there is not much scope for complicated action and the action in this story is very simple – yet the story itself has quite a complex structure, and maintains interest and suspense. It also succeeds in "foreshortening" – that is, presenting us with a whole life story in the space of 24 hours – this allows for the development of theme and setting, and for some more in-depth exploration of character. As the woman deals with the present situation and reminisces about her past, we can see furthermore how character, setting AND theme are closely integrated; the character is seen as shaped by her situation, and as exemplifying the larger concerns of the story.

1. Why is the ‘kitchen’ described as ‘larger than the house itself’?
2. How effective is the description with which Lawson opens the story?
3. Why is the woman never given a name?
4. Most of the story is told from the woman’s point of view. How is this point of view established?
5. Look at the passage beginning: ‘The drover’s wife makes the children stand together near the doghouse…’ and ending: ‘She has brought the dog into the room.’ (p. 20, Penguin edition)

1. What qualities of character in the woman are stressed here?
2. How does Lawson create atmosphere and suspense?
3. What aspects of life in the bush are highlighted by the action and description?
4. What themes are stressed in this passage?

1. Comment on how Lawson manages the first time shift in the story. Do you think this is effectively done? Why?
2. Comment on the use Lawson makes of the woman’s memory in this story. What does this enable him to do?
3. Why do you think Lawson chooses the incident of the snake to "happen" for the reader in the present? (Rather than the many others in her life he could have chosen.)
4. Take each of the woman’s experiences as related in the story, and think of a word or phrase which could encapsulate its theme or subject e.g. "hardship"; "isolation"; "self-reliance", etc.
5. What are some of the themes all these "narratives" have in common?
6. Notice the sections in the story where Lawson steps in, as narrator, to remind us of the present moment. Why does he do this?
7. How does he finally bring us back into the present?
8. Comment on the story’s conclusion. What qualities in the writing save it from being sentimental?
9. What do you think are the main themes of this story?

‘In a Dry Season’

1. How effective is the opening paragraph? Comment on the use of the second person.
2. What is a "sundowner"?
3. How are the desolation and emptiness of the ‘railway town’captured? Choose two descriptions which you think are effective and explain why.
4. Comment on the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th paragraphs:

1. How is this an example of the way Lawson "changes lenses" to create variety and interest in this sketch? Find some other examples of where he does this.
2. Describe and indentify the figure of speech Lawson uses to describe the passengers who board the train. What is the narrator’s tone here? How does this tone change from time to time as the story unfolds?
3. Comment on the last sentence: "Death is about the only cheerful thing in the bush."

1. Comment on the description of the river.
2. What is meant by "One or two square-cuts and stand-up collars struggle dismally through to the bitter end." and "God forgive our social system".How do this and other details and comments suggest a possible context for the story (and perhaps explain the narrator’s journey???)
3. Comment on the last sentence of the story. Why does this work as an ending? (Hint –it’s another example of what Lawson has been doing throughout..)
4. General question: ‘In a Dry Season’ seems like a fairly inconsequential piece of writing – but it is very artfully and cleverly constructed.’ How true is this? Give some examples of the techniques Lawson uses to catch the reader’s attention and maintain interest.
5. What do you think is the writer’s purpose, and for which audience was and is he writing?
6. What do you think may have been the reason for the narrator’s journey? Invent some details…

"Joe Wilson’s Courtship’

1. What is the tone and point of view of the narrator as the story opens?
2. How does this change as the story of the "courtship" begins?
3. What language features does the writer employ to give the story an Australian "feel"?
4. What are some of the different ways in which the writer "tells the story"? Explain how Lawson has succeeded in telling the story in a variety of ways, while still maintaining the central point of view.
5. How does the writer indicate the passing of time? Do you think this is done effectively? How would you describe the "pacing" of the story?
6. Why does Joe wonder "whether the rose-bush killed the grape vine or the ivy smothered ‘em both in the end." What does this brief passage suggest about how we should respond to the story?
7. What does the incident of the clothesline show?
8. Choose another incident in the story and explain how this creates suspense and furthers the action. How would you place this incident within the structure of the story i.e. does it belong to or constitute the exposition, development – complication (rising action), denouement, conclusion or finale, turning point (crisis). Explain your reasons for making your choice.
9. Describe the relationship between Jack and Joe. How does this change in the course of the story? Would you describe them as "mates"? Why?
10. Describe Mary’s position as a character in the story. What view of women and their role in society is suggested here – both by the narrator’s portrayal of her AND by the implied author? Is there a difference? (compare and contrast this character and her position with ‘The Drover’s Wife’).
11. How effective do you find the ending of the story? Why?

‘The Loaded Dog’

Throughout this story, Lawson creates for us a narrator who ‘speaks from experience’, and is himself a ‘typical bushman telling a yarn.’ There is a fund of implied (and sometimes stated) knowledge which lends authority to the tone and credibility to the story, which has elements of the ‘tall tale’. The protagonists, particularly Andy and Dave, are seen in a gently mocking way- this is part of the humour of comedy. There are many other elements of classic comedy in the structure of the story as well: there is the chase, of course, and the explosion - use of suspense through anticipated surprise; there is danger for the protagonists but the suspense is relieved through the intervention of the yellow cattle dog, who becomes the stand-in "victim" of the story, the slow, leisurely build-up followed by helter-skelter action…

 

1. What is the narrator’s tone in the opening paragraph, and point to some of the features of the use of language which help to create it. Do you think this successfully establishes the register of the story? How?
2. Why are the catfish important for the story? How does Lawson create humour here?
3. Comment on the description of the making of the cartridge. How does the writer’s use of details involve the reader?
4. Comment on the way Lawson uses this phase of the action to develop and differentiate characters.
5. What’s your reaction to the introduction of the dog to the story?
6. How effectively do you think Lawson has laid the groundwork for the beginning of the action?
7. How does Lawson create suspense on pp. 96-97 (see up to ‘Run, Andy! run!’ – Penguin edn)?
8. How effective is the description of the chase? What are some of the comic elements Lawson employs here? Comment on the language used and how this speeds up the pace of the action.
9. What role does the ‘yellow mongrel cattle dog’ play in the story? How does this add to the humour?
10. Why does Lawson not describe the explosion itself but its aftermath? How effective is this description?
11. Comment on the ending of the story.